hitting someone on the course/breaking window

**kevinbomb123** · May 27, 2010

So what happens if u hit someone with your tee shot and it kills them iam pretty sure your NOT liable same as with property damage? anyone here hit someone or break a window/hit someones house.

**Fairway_CY** · May 27, 2010

I guess it depends. Obviously, if you turn around and aim it at someone sitting in a cart and smack 'em with the ball... yeah, you'd be liable. But... accidental? I doubt you would be.

Regarding property damage, it depends on the course. I played a course in Easton, PA the other day and I was told that for YEARS... they didn't have a clause anywhere on the scorecard that named the players as being responsible for property damage to the surrounding homes. On the 10th tee, my buddy severely pull-hooked a 3 iron off the tee and after a brief wait... we heard a loud crack. The guys behind us (we were a twosome waiting for a VERY slow foursome in front of us all day) said that the course had just RECENTLY put that clause on the scorecard.

Luckily, the guy whose house he hit was very cool about it and said not to worry about it... he was prepared for such instances and kind of assumed the liability when he bought his home. No damage done, financially, to my friend. His psyche was a little hurt though and he became a bit gun-shy when we got around homes for the remainder of the round.

To answer the question... I guess it depends on what the course rules say when property damage comes up.

CY

**Stretch** · May 27, 2010

These are my best guesses. I am not a lawyer, nor did I stay in a Holiday Inn Express last night. If you drive into someone playing the hole ahead of you and injure them, you're potentially in the shiznit. By definition, you should not have played your tee shot until they were clear. If it is established that you drove into them deliberately, you could very likely face criminal prosecution. Now, a slice across two fairways, well you had no intention to do so and the potential danger presented by misdirected golf balls is a fairly well-known hazard of choosing to patronize any golf course.

As far as property damage goes, I believe that many golf developments maintain a repairs fund out of general association fees to pay for broken windows etc. If you choose to live on the course, you take the rough with the smooth. Going OB and hitting a house outside the course boundaries, I don't know.

**saevel25** · May 27, 2010

On one golf course, were a hole was near a road, the course booklet said that the course is not liable for any damage caused to vehicles. So its all on you, if you hit someone's house, car, ect... you are in the wrong. Though i have a big issue with houses built near golf courses, if its a country club and the course sold land, i say its fair game, you put your house there, prepare to take the damage. But that doesn't change the legality of it.

**RedCard03** · May 28, 2010

I saw John Daly peg someone in the leg at the Valero Texas Open in heavy heavy rough. When he punched out and the golf ball slammed into this guys leg it sounded like Rocky punching slabs of meat. The guys faced look like he got tazed by a stun gun. Apparently, John was more excited that he got out then pegging the guy. The crowd thought it was awsome as well as I did. I think its the job of the caddy to say sorry so that John can stay focused.

**DaSportsGuy** · May 28, 2010

I'm pretty sure the course is responsible for that unless it says so(usually on the scorecard).

If you deliberately hit into someone then you could be in the wrong...but then again it would be tough for any attorney to prove that you saw them and hit into them on purpose.

**ajschn06** · May 28, 2010

There are a couple courses around here that have houses or roads literally like 15 yards off the fairways. No way am I going to be held liable for that.

**Stretch** · May 28, 2010

If you deliberately hit into someone then you could be in the wrong...but then again it would be tough for any attorney to prove that you saw them and hit into them on purpose.

Trust me, when your golf buddies are deposed under oath, they

will remember that you said: "These guys are too ******* slow, I'm gonna hurry them up a bit."

climax81 · May 28, 2010

If you intentionally hit someone on the course I guess you would be subject to how they react... If they are still breathing, I do play golf with a lawyer and when you live on a golf course like that you cannot sue or make anyone pay for any damage to a house unless you intentionally hit their house. He said it is called ASSUMPTION OF RISK, and you would lose in court.

**treebound** · May 28, 2010

There's the criminal side of the discussion, and if there's a death there will be the possibility of a manslaughter charge, and if someone says you wanted to speed them up then the unintentional manslaughter charge could get bumped up to homicide depending upon the local D.A. Department (and on who it was who died).

On the other side of the discussion there is the civil aspect, and in the case of a death you'll be dealing with potential wrongfull death lawsuits.

I'm not a lawyer and nothing I posted should be construed as legal advice, my comments are just my observations and rememberings of what I've heard and read from local news reports over the years mixed in with liberal and generous doses of watching cop shows and assorted television shows and movies.

With that said, while playing last Saturday there was a foursome ahead of me where one or two of them would splay their shots randomly downrange and cross fairway. Several times as I was playing the adjacent hole I'd kneal down behind my bag/cart or stand behind a tree "to not distract them while they made their shot" (and to avoid being bopped on the knoggin by an errant ball). Nothing ever came close but we did cross paths multiple times.

The "reasonable and prudent man" test factors in, as does a reasonably competant level of skill. If you know you have a wicked slice it might be to your benefit to wait for your landing zones clear before making a stroke. A notation on a scorecard does not eliminate course liability, no more than does the text on the back of a ticket stub for a sports or music event (per various internet, TV, movie, news sources - all as credible as you want them to be (or not)).
To the OP: did something happen?????

**golfaddiction** · May 28, 2010

Saw a sign on one course that said "Golfer is liable for any damages caused to property" or something thereabouts. It was on a hole with a busy street down the left side.

**BonoVox** · May 28, 2010

Signs or notes on score cards really won't matter when it comes back to who is liable. I suspect liability will be different in every state. Just assume you can be held liable. As we all know anybody can sue for anything. So even if it is found you are not liable in court for some act on the golf course, by the time it gets to that point, you have spent some serious $$$$$. So be careful out there!

**Taggsy** · May 28, 2010

The law's a bit different over here, but this is our Criminal Damage Act;
"A person who without lawful excuse destroys or damages any property belonging to another intending to destroy or damage any such property or being reckless as to whether any such property would be destroyed or damaged shall be guilty of an offence."

So long as you're playing the game properly (playing of the tees, aiming at the fairways / greens, not taking a full driver on a 120 yard par 3 etc) I think it would be hard to prove you were reckless if you pull off a nasty hook or slice and then break something.

With regards to hitting someone with a golf ball, that could be classed as assault, depending on the injury. As with criminal damage, being found guilty of it depends on your intent (are you aiming at people with a club you know can reach them?), or are you being reckless (chipping your balls over a row of trees where there could be people behind).
Another factor of assault is consent, or implied consent. If someone asks you to kick them in the shins to test out their new shin pads, and you actually bruise them, you're not guilty of an offense because they consented to it. It's the same with full contact sports / martial arts. Your consent is implied due to the fact you're playing. If someone gives you a black eye whilst boxing, it's not assault- you knew there was a likelihood of it happening, but went ahead and participated anyway.

It would be interesting to see how consent holds up in court if someone is hit by a golf ball. It would be my guess that so long as it was a pure accident, the victim would have implied consent to being hit by the ball simply by being on the course. The victim would know there is every chance of being hit by a ball, and yet they continued to play- as we all do.

As for murder, again if it was an accident and there was no intent, then you're not guilty of it. However, you could be guilty of involuntary manslaughter, which is serious and can carry a long prison sentence.

**mattttt25** · May 28, 2010

My umbrella policy follows me to the course. Best I can do. Fore!!!!

**SpoiledRotten** · May 28, 2010

I've bounced a few off of houses on the fairways at Sand Destin. They chose to build/buy that house on the fairway, not me. I certainly would never damage someone's property or someone intentionally. They took that risk. I paid to play in their back yard. It does scare me though when some jerk is behind me, late for an important date and chose to play golf right up until time to go, then thinks everyone on the course is supposed to hurry up to accommodate him, and let's you know by hitting too close to my group.

**foxhole88** · May 28, 2010

I hit a house on a local NJ course and broke a piece of siding off. The guy was home at the time and I went over to see the damage. I didn't know what my liability was at the time. I told him to get an estimate and give me a call. After the round I asked the guy in the pro shop what my responsibility was for something like this. He said the course doesn't cover it, and that I wasn't responsible either. If I wanted to pay for it I could but that I wouldn't be on the hook for it. They said if you feel that bad about it maybe you could split the costs. The guy told me the last time he needed a piece of siding replaced it was $250.

I also asked around the other members of the course and they said I shouldn't pay this guy. They said the course was here first, before the homes. His insurance should cover it. Plus I found out that the homes that faced the actual course in this development each got a $4000 tax break each year for having one of these homes.

I felt bad at the time and offered to pay half but the guy was pressing me to pay for the entire amount and said this wasn't a negotiation and that it wasn't a question of liability, it was a issue of doing the right thing. I damaged his property and I should make it right. - I was a little put off by the whole "this isn't a negotiation" part and decided not to pay him anything. I figured his yearly $4000 tax break would cover it and maybe he should put up a net or get some more durable siding if his house was getting hit that often.

(The houses on this course are extremely close to the OOB. It's cart path, 5 yards of rough then OOB and you are already in their yard. Add on another 20-30 yards and your in their living room)

**OCdude12** · May 28, 2010

My umbrella policy follows me to the course. Best I can do. Fore!!!!

I think thats one of the most important things you can do, yell FORE! As long as someone hears that you yelled it, you're covered as most courses say on the scorecard or in the proshop you play at your own risk.

**pittpanther** · May 28, 2010

There's the criminal side of the discussion, and if there's a death there will be the possibility of a manslaughter charge, and if someone says you wanted to speed them up then the unintentional manslaughter charge could get bumped up to homicide depending upon the local D.A. Department (and on who it was who died).

I'm actually surprised that there's not a lot of precedent for us to fall back on. This question comes up periodically, but we can never find actual court cases to determine how things were dealt with. Because we don't have much precedence, it makes me think that perhaps people can't get seriously hurt by a long-distance golf shot. Of course if you're standing 10 yards in front of someone using their driver, you can be killed. But perhaps if someone gets hit 200 yards downfield, the ball doesn't have enough energy to cause serious mental injury or death...

Anyway, back to the discussion of liability, I can imagine a scenario where your OB shot kills the main breadwinner of the family. You WILL get sued for wrongful death, and you WILL spend tens of thousands of dollars defending yourself. Imagine the widow on trial, who now has to support their 5 children by herself, because YOU killed her husband. I can see a sympathetic jury finding the golfer to have some percentage of the responsibility. Or imagine you kill a kid - would you want that case to go to trial, with the parents crying on the stand, and everyone looking at you as the kid-killer? You may ultimately be successful in your defense, but those thousands of dollars, plus the years of stress, you will never get back.

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